A/N: If the title wasn't clear enough, 'Papercuts and the Sunflower Second Story: Dawn' is prequel to that of the first. It will look at the lives of Hitsugaya and Matsumoto prior to what happened in the original. Look at my profile for another surprise.
Papercuts and the Sunflower - Second Story: Dawn
by Prince Leon
"Oi! Matsumoto!" Hitsugaya called out at the top of his lungs as he stood behind the office sofa, his arms folded and head turned to his side looking upwards. Instantly the blonde that lay in front of him soared upwards with her blue eyes wide and arms gripping the sofa tightly as if preparing for some sort of collision.
"Taichou! W-What's going on?" She stammered, turning to face the green-eyed genius behind her. "Is there an emergency?"
"Baka." He rolled his eyes and turned to face her. "There's nothing going on. It's just that I'm tired of seeing you stretched out around here and doing nothing." Raising a finger he pointed at her forehead and poked it. "Honestly, you give me no basis to brag to the other captains about."
"Taichou!" Her tone diced with slight anger. "Is that why you did that? You almost scared me half to death."
Hitsugaya shook his head. "Such a worthless fuku-taichou." With a hesitant sigh out of the way, he strolled around the sofa and slid over to his desk. Before sitting he removed his zanpakutou from along his back and leaned it against the wall behind him, taking a pen in hand as he leaned forward. Without any more words coming from him he began to move his pen across one of the many papers stacked in front of him, trying his best to ignore Matsumoto. Feeling a bit uneasy he stopped his writing and looked up at his partner. "What?"
Matsumoto was broken out of her gaze at his tone, which never seemed to be too harsh or anger-driven. She quickly glided her hand through her hair, tossing a few of her locks behind her shoulders. "I'm sorry taichou. I seemed to have been lost in thought for a moment."
"No kidding." The silver-haired taichou muttered under his breath as he refocused his eyes on the papers in front of him. He was moving much slower than usual, even he realized this when he'd started about an hour ago...
He had been in a Captain's meeting for most of the morning and felt that it had just been a waste of his time since nothing of importance was being discussed at all. When he had arrived at the office after his stroll, it was not surprising to find that his fuku-taichou was fast asleep. At first he had thought of slamming the door shut so she'd scramble to her feet in surprise but he figured that'd be too rude even for him. As he made his way over to his desk he passed in front of the sofa, pausing to take a look at the sleeping Matsumoto. 'As usual.' He thought to himself. 'Not a trace of drool.'
He wasn't one to normally think of these sort of things but it'd become commonplace with her. Suddenly jolted out of his daze Matsumoto moaned softly against the cushion as she turned over more on her side, causing her hair to fall across her face. The sight had caught his attention and almost instantly he calmly walked over to her and shook his head. 'You damn lazy woman. What the hell are you doing to me…?' Matsumoto wiggled her nose, seemingly being tickled by the strands of hair that were draped across her face. Almost as if it were a natural reaction Hitsugaya gently moved his fingers across her cheek and brushed away the blonde strands, tucking them behind her ear.
"Tai..chou.." She moaned, causing him to remove his hand in a flash and leaving his heart echoing with an almost painful thud.
Hitsugaya blinked rapidly, taking a few steps back as he held his hand up to his face. He could still feel the tingling, the softness of her skin surging through those fingers as he swallowed slightly. 'What am I doing?' He sighed as he tilted his head downwards. 'I must be a fool for even thinking of such a thing ever…' Those thoughts were stopped as he shrugged them off, and walked around to his seat. Arranging his clothing, his gaze found Matsumoto once more and unknowingly he smiled just slightly as he said, "You're going to be the end of me, you know that?"
Hitsugaya could only shut his eyes at the memory, leaning his head up as he stretched his neck. He was about to return to signing the documents in front of him before he was paralyzed at the feel of something brushing against his cheek and neck. Before he could even turn his face, Matsumoto's appeared beside him. Her hair was gently running over his skin which caused him to grasp his pen just a tad bit tighter than usual.
"Are you almost done Taichou?" Matsumoto asked while turning to look at him.
"Does it look like I'm almost done?" He gestured toward the piles of paper all over his desk. It was the best reply he could weave considering he had just felt her breath run across his face ever so gently. With his eyes constantly looking back and forth between her and the papers in front of him, he unknowingly began to write on the desk without notice.
Matsumoto could only giggle softly at the sight. "Is there something wrong?"
"You're annoying me." He managed to say without a hint of stammering. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see her staring at him, her face barely an inch away from his own. When she didn't move his heart thumped loudly once at the sound of her breathing out.
"Why are you so cruel to me taichou?" She questioned with a slight smile on her pouty lips. Before seeing that smile he somehow felt himself wanting to disprove what she had just said but he stood composed as he cleared throat, almost allowing her smile to force one onto his lips.
"Maybe if you did some actual work around here," he turned to face her with his eyes closed for but a moment. "Then I wouldn't have to treat you the way I do now would I?"
When he opened his eyes all his vision could see was her face directly in front of his with her blue orbs staring back at him. Silence fell between them as neither moved. Hitsugaya could feel a drop sweat begin to roll down the side of his face as he sat there looking up at his alluring fuku-taichou with eyes wide open. Before he could stammer a few words out, Matsumoto smiled brightly down at him as she pushed her hair back over her shoulders.
"You're absolutely right." She said, grabbing a few of the papers on his desk. The palm of her hand brushed lightly against his cheek as she slipped it into his hair and ruffled it around for a few seconds. "I'll become the best fuku-taichou just for you…Hitsugaya-taichou." With that she gently removed her hand from his hair and gracefully made her way over to and behind her desk, leaving Hitsugaya still staring.
'What the…?' The silver-haired taichou thought to himself blankly. He was unsure of what to think or do at the moment. One side of him wanted to shout at the blonde for ruffling his hair into a mess like a little kid. The other…he wasn't at all sure about what the other side of him felt. He did know, however, that his skin was still tingling from the touches of her hair and skin. He did notice the pace and the way she walked away from him. He didn't realize, however, that he now had a dazed expression on his face as he unknowingly looked over in Matsumoto's direction. With her pen in between her lips she peeped up from the paper she was reading and quickly waved at him with that smile on her face before returning to her work.
'What the hell is happening…?' He turned fully in his chair and slid himself back under the desk while shaking his head gently. It wasn't long before he was scowling like he usually did though, trying his best to shrug off what had just happened. Diving back into the pages in front of him, he struggled to keep his eyes from straying over to Matsumoto as he leaned dangerously close to the surface of the desk.
Unbeknownst to him, Matsumoto was busy throwing a glance over in his direction. She chuckled softly to herself while looking him over, noticing how his eyes were trying to peek in her direction and the way he was grasping the desk tightly with his free hand. 'Hitsugaya Toushirou and Matsumoto Rangiku…' She recited within her mind, chuckling once more as she carefully signed the very first document in her hands. 'I think I love the time I spend with him more than I should be…'
A/N: There you go folks. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. More will come soon enough.